Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs have won 18 consecutive games. Will the Thunder challenge them?/AP

18 wins in a row. The San Antonio Spurs are rolling.

Unbeaten in this year’s NBA playoffs, the Spurs swept the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers to reach the Western Conference finals. They’ve been unstoppable.

They haven’t been tested, either, but that’s all about to change Sunday.

Here come the Thunder. The Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Spurs have the best team, but the Thunder have the two best players in the series in Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year in James Harden.

So make no mistake. The Spurs will lose a game in this series, but will they lose the series?

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San Antonio's Tony Parker and Gregg Popovich may be the NBA's best point guard-coach duo./AP Photo

The debate is finally going to be settled where it should be settled – on the court.

Chris Paul and Tony Parker are considered two of the top five point guards in the NBA along with Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook and Rajon Rondo.

Some say they’re the top two. They’re generals in their own way.

Paul leads and motivates the Los Angeles Clippers with an iron hand, is the mayor of Lob City and closes games with great decision making and precision.

Parker leads and motivates the San Antonio Spurs with flair and creativity, gets to the rim at will and leads an offense that is arguably the most potent in the NBA.

The question is which one will do more to help their team get one step closer to the NBA Finals?

Will that ultimately determine who’s better? No, but people can use the results of this series as a barometer to pick one over the other.

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Marc Gasol and the Memphis Grizzlies couldn't come back from a 3-1 series deficit to beat the L.A. Clippers./AP Photo.

Not bad. Not bad.

With the Los Angeles Clipppers beating the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 7 Sunday to advance to the Western Conference semifinals, all the first-round series are complete. I finished 6-2 in predicting the first round.

Eastern Conference

(1) Chicago Bulls vs. (8) Philadelphia 76ers.
Prediction: Bulls in 5
Outcome: Sixers in 6.
What happpened: Derrick Rose got hurt. Joakim Noah got hurt. Bulls didn’t have enough.

(2) Miami Heat vs. (7) New York Knicks
Prediction: Heat in 6
Outcome: Heat in 5
What happened: Knicks not ready as a team to seriously challenge Miami.

(3) Indiana Pacers vs. (6) Orlando Magic
Prediction: Pacers in 5
Outcome: Pacers in 5
What happened: Without Dwight Howard, Magic had no shot to win this series.

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Ivan Johnson's first NBA season ended with the Boston Celtics beating the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, but he'll be remembered for more./AP Photo

Ivan Johnson is out.

So is Mike James. Include Blake Ahearn as well.

The three former Erie BayHawks are on NBA teams that have been eliminated from the playoffs. Last night, the Boston Celtics escaped the Atlanta Hawks, 83-80, to win Game 6 and the series, 4-2.

Johnson has been with the Hawks all season. Not playing in Game 6, Johnson gave a fan the middle finger as he left the TD Garden court in Boston.

There were better ways for him to end the season.  After having a great year with Erie in 2010-11, Johnson, for the most part, took advantage of his first NBA season, but didn’t end it graciously.

Before the Celtics eliminated the Hawks, the Philadelphia 76ers pulled out a miraculous 79-78 win in which Andre Iguodala hit a game winning free throws with 2.2 seconds left.

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Rookie power forward Ivan Johnson (44) is averaging five points for the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA Playoffs./AP Photo

Three former Erie BayHawks – PF Ivan Johnson (Atlanta Hawks), PG Blake Ahearn (Utah Jazz) and PG Mike James (Chicago Bulls) – are still flying in the NBA Playoffs.

How long will their teams stay in postseason flight is the question.

The Hawks are tied 1-1 in their best-of-7 series against the Boston Celtics. Had they won Game 2 at home with Boston not having Rajon Rondo, the Hawks would be in good shape to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Boston already the edge in experience and resolve. Now they have home court advantage and Rondo is back from his one-game suspension for bumping a referee. This isn’t looking too good for the Hawks.

As for Johnson he’s averaging five points, five rebounds and a steal in this series, but is shooting just 36.4 percent from the field. Johnson shot 51.3 percent during the regular season.

Game 3 is today at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.

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(1). San Antonio Spurs (50-16)

1st round foe: (8) Utah Jazz (36-30)

Biggest concern vs. Jazz: With big boys Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson, Utah can cause the Spurs problems in the paint.

Last 10: 10-0 (Won 10)

Strengths: The hottest team in the NBA, the Spurs have great chemistry, Tony Parker is playing at a very high level and they’ve got one of game’s best coaches in Gregg Popovich.

Weaknesses: Still wondering if this regular-season success is a product of the schedule? Are they really as good as they appear to be? What happens if Parker gets in foul trouble early?

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Hard to imagine an undrafted player who has spent time in the D-League in his first two NBA seasons being the answer at point guard for the New York Knicks.

Then again, who would have thought they’d have a losing record at 10-15 with Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and new addition Tyson Chandler.

So it shouldn’t be a surprise that Jeremy Lin has been a spark for the Knicks.

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“I already know. They’re going to come back harder. We’ve got to come back harder at them.” – Erie BayHawks forward Ivan Johnson on how he expects the New Mexico Thunderbirds to respond Saturday after losing 125-100 to the BayHawks on Thursday night at Tullio Arena.

Coach Darvin Ham is not pleased with his team's play of late./Photo by Layne Murdoch

Head coach Darvin Ham sure hopes his Thunderbirds will come out  harder than they did Thursday night.

Ham is largely known for having shattered a backboard on a dunk while at Texas Tech, but he was an undersized power forward (6-7, 220) who played eight NBA seasons and was with the Detroit Pistons when they won the 2004 NBA title.

“I had a big chip on my shoulder which I still have to this day,” he said. “People tell me I’m not going to be an NBA player. OK. I was an NBA player. You’re not going to be successful. I won a championship. You’re not going to be able to do analysis work on TV. I did that. You’re not going to become a head coach. I became that. I just love the challenges. That feeds me. The naysayers feed me.”

Now he’s trying to get New Mexico to play with that same ferocity. The Thunderbirds will carry a four-game losing skid into Saturday’s 7 p.m. game at Tullio Arena. Here’s what a disappointed Ham had to say after having a 30-plus minute talk with his team in the visitor’s locker room at Tullio Arena after Thursday night’s 25-point loss.

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Kobe Bryant is still the game's best player.

I made my list.

Checked it twice

Now you’re going to find out.

The NBA players I think are oh so nice.

These guys are why I love the game of basketball. Here are my 10 favorite players in the league right now.

These are the guys if I had the money to buy NBA authentic jerseys instead of the replicas, these guys would be on my wish list. They not only provide the highlights, but you have to keep your eyes on them every play because the moment you go to grab a slice of pizza, they’ve done something you may never see again.

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A 2010 D-League All-Star, Aminu played both NBA summer leagues in Orlando and Vegas.

Here’s how players who was with the Erie BayHawks at some point last season fared in the two NBA summer leagues in Orlando and Las Vegas.

Players are listed in alphabetical order.

Combo guard Blake Ahearn (Finished with BayHawks after being traded from Bakersfield to Erie for Alade Aminu) played four games for the Houston Rockets in Las Vegas and scored 11 total points. Shot 14.3 percent from the field, was 2-of-11 from 3-point range and have seven assists to five turnovers.

Power forward Alade Aminu (Finished with Bakersfield after Erie traded him there for Blake Ahearn) played five games for the Atlanta Hawks in Las Vegas and four for the Charlotte Bobcats in Orlando. Aminu averaged 10 points and 4.4 rebounds for the Hawks, 5.5 points and four boards for the Bobcats. He had 14 points, five rebounds and two blocks against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday in his last game in Las Vegas.

Center John Bryant (Started and finished season with BayHawks) played two games for the Milwaukee Bucks in Las Vegas and scored two total points in 12 minutes. He attempted two shots total, made one.

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